Here, as before, Fletchers aims are descriptive not critical, and yet if his account of unstable tolerance is accepted, then, once again, his philosophical efforts provide cover for these complaints. And notice, once this cover and these complaints are combined with the praise that tolerance receives in societies like ours, resentment comes, it follows in turn. If tolerance amounts to this, this semblance of virtue, and if its act generates this threat to our rightful authority over our ordinary associations, and if, as virtue and act, it is commended, practiced, and praised nevertheless, then we should not only oppose its practice and resent its praise, but also resist the conditions—the diversity of life and commitment—that encourage our fellow citizens to commend it.32